Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1967-09-07, Page 11 a ' Whole•Ne.3191 108th Year • -SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, THU S.D Y, SET/TF1/1-FR 7, 1967 Unveil New Community. Centre Front The unveiling of the plaque to commemorate the new terian Church, Hon. Charles S. MacNaughton, Provincial • Community Centre front took place on Monday evening at Treasurer, MPP for Huron, Reeve Carl Dalton,' F. C. J. Sills the official opening and dedication 'ceremonies. Participating Centennial committee .chairman, Mayor Frank Kling; chairb in the opening -were Rev. D. 0. -Fry, Minister of First Presby, man for the .occasion and Robert E. McKinney, MP fo roft;A A Great Parade Ideal weather and an exceptionally large n tuber of en- tries helped Seaforth enjoy one of the best paraes in years. Shown above is the Cham'iier of Commerce float, carrying the SDHS Queen, Mary Ann Philips (right) and princesses, Bon- nie Kerslake (left). and Debbie 14Iiller. In the lower picture the Seafartti" Whirl -A -Ways abandon -their float to square dance on the Main Street. New Arena Front 'Is officially Opened Seaforth's Centennial project, the new arena front, was offici- ally opened and dedicated at a ceremony held on Monday evening. The unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the pro-. jest was performed by Seaforth Reeve Carl Dalton: The project provides a fire proof entrance to. the arena as well as enlarging the size of the community hail. Mayor Frank Kling was chair- man for the occasion and intro- duced the guests and the coun- cil. In his welcoming remarks Mayor Kling noted that the pro- ject chosen by the committee will serve the community for many years and continue , to be a reminder of this Centennial occasion. Hon. C. S. MacNaughton, Pro- vineial Treasurer, and Huron •MPP, addressed the crowdand remarked "Seaforth has done its usual splendid best in choos- ing a project so worthwhile, to the community", and he went onto add that "the parade held earlier was one of the best I have ever witnessed." • Robert E. McKinley, MP for Huron, congratulated the Cen- tennial committee.. and the peo- ple behind the scenes in this 'project. He noted that the .peo-' ple doing the planning and or- ganizing involved in such a pro- ject deserve much credit. Mr. Peter K. Large, manag- ing director. ef the Bakery Coun- cil of Canad , was also on hand foe the celebration. He was rep- resenting. John Fischer. of the Centennial commission. In a brief speech he said; "There is nothing to match the good hon- est work put into the project and the festivities by the citi- zens of Seaforth, to make the entire celebration. a success." Donald McKenzie, Huron County. Warden, McKillop Reeve K. Stewart; Tuckersmith Reeve •Elgin Thompson; and Dr. Mor- gan Smith, Bayfield, gave brief speeches_ and offered congratu- lations to Seaforth. Rev. D. 0. Fry dedicated the new arena front. • In closing the program, F. C. J. Sills, chairman of the Cen- tennial committee thankedev- eryone involved in making ,the events successful. Building Permits Increase Seaforth is in the midst of a building boom acbording to the value . of building permits sued in the period between June 30, 1966 and July 4, 1967. In the first half of 1967, 13 building permits were issued as compared with 11 in the same period of 1966. Value of con- struction was up from $41,635 to $41,745, a smale rise: But the real boom was in the last six months of 1966. In'that period 20 permits were issued the same number as in the cor- responding period of 1965, but value of the • building soared from $24,275 to $70,115. Thus the total for 1966-67 is $111,860, compared with $6-S,- 910 in 1965.66.. Largest ' item for the early part. of this year was $15,500 by Wm. Hodgert for a home. Larg- est in the latter months of 1966 Was $25,000 for renovations and an addition to.the Canadian Im- perial Bank• of Commerce. Permits issued' in the latter (Continued on rage 4) A History . By Belie Campbell From Forest to Thriving Hamlets With the completion of a fur- and of the people who contri- living near then]. With these the newcomers made and friends, but by 1845, all these had taken flight to _parts unknown to the settlers. Until 1828, 'Colonel Anthony VanEgmbnd was prac- tically the only permanent settler along the Huron ther history of seaforth area which she. entitles "F;rom Forest to Thriving Hamlets",. Miss Isobel Campbell continues her record of the events which led to the establishment of the Seaforth community as we know it today. The first in what will be a weekly series of ar- tkles begfnsein'this issue. Last year Miss nip4 ell told in "The Story of eaforth" de- tails of the to s early days of Seaforth. From Forest To Thriving Hamlets Blazed trail! Corduroy road! Railroad! Do we who travel our highways,' super highways and by air in this 1967, Centennial year realize what these three meant to the development of the ' Huron Tract of which this community forms a part? Before these carne, it was still a huge acreage of untrodden and unhewn forest. With these came the rise and fall of little hamlets that sprang up like mushr000ms in the 1830's, '40's and '50'"s. Three of these, in our own community, we shall deal with here, namely Roxboro, Harpurhey and Egmondville. . It was not' till 1827 that John McDonald and his axemen, under Dr. William "Tiger" Dunlop, surveyed a road and blazed a trail along this route. By December, 1828, a sleigh track had been opened that 'guided, the few straggling immigrants, missionaries and other land seekers along their way to their various destinatiwpns. These' came on foot, 'horseback or by ox team. A few sparsely located taverns -gave there food and shelter. Prior to this the'bnly trails were those used by the Indians, as they traversed through the virgin forest from one camping ground to another on their. hunting and fishing expeditions. One of these camping grounds was in the swamp . at the 'western limit of what is rlOw, the Town of Seaforth, This was their halfway stopping. place, - en raveling north to Saugeen for the sum- mer - rid south ',,oke tie 'for the.winter, When the fit setit e � . r i r� ar d tiler er were� .• a few n, ,pian � families fes buted to its development. The Story of Seaforth first appear- ed in the Expositor end since has been published, in book form. In her present work the Sea - forth writer discusses the early days of Egmondville, Roxboro 'and Harpurhey and- tells how events of a hundred and more years ago resulted in the birth oad outside of Goderich. It was not till the next year at his combined• inn and home was completed. Shortly after this the Canada Company begarr�•'to realize that if settlement was to proceed a better means of -transportation had to be provided.. Following up this decision, a contract was granted.to Anthony VanEg- mond on February 9, 1830, to build forty -fine and one- half miles• of proper road east from Goderich toward Wilmot, near.Guelph. His son Constant was to be his assistant. The signed contract allowed VanEgmond three years to complete the job. He was to be paid one- third in cash and the reriainder in land grants. How- ever, at the end of one and a half years, the money allotted by the Company was depleted. From then till he completed the task at the -end of two years, instead of three,' his supposed cash payment Was made ' more land grants. This made VanEgmond, in the early 1830's, the.largest land proprietor and the wealthiest man in the district. • In addition to the extensive' block of land north and -south of the Huron Road near his home and inn, he also owned a huge block farther east in the town- ships. Some.of this land was near the site of the present day Egmondville. It has been said that his holdings at this time amounted to as much as 13,000 acres. Ross was the name chosen_ for his estate. This estate was Confiscated because he assisted McKenzie in the 1837 Rebellion. All that was left of Colonel Anthony's hold- ings Was a swamp farm, where he had built 'a dam and rug.a grist mill. It was also his home for a time. This was Dot 15, :Concession 1, Hallett `Township., The mill Was run by his son Edward and later by Edward's son- in-law, Ed,. Sones. This farm is now owned by Cliff, Glaz•. ier.' After the confiscation, the name 'Ross was heard; no iinore. --e tCo1 tined on Page ` 0) Following • a series of acci- dents again this week; eleven Seaforth and, area residents "have been sent to the hospital. ' Head-on Collision Arthur J, —Wright, of Sea - 'forth, is in St. Joseph's' Hos- pital; . Loxidon, following . a two - car head=on .colliafon Sunday,. The accident. occurred about 5:3.0 .p.m. on the 5th Concession of Stapley Township, sbuth of Varna. - Mr: Wright was seriously in- jured and is under intensive care at St. Joseph's Hospital. Also injured in the Wright car were Mrs. Margaret Wright, - who is in Seaforth Community Hospital in fair condition with cuts and lacerations, and their son, John, who is in St. Joseph's Hospital with a badly broken leg. Driver of the second Car was Mervin Erb, of RR 2 Zurich. Mr. Erb and two passengers, Gerald Shantz, Zurich, and. •Tan- ya Parkins, Zurich were admit- ted. to Seaforth Community Hospital. Mr. Erb and Mr. Shantz were later transferred to South Huron Hospital, Exet .er. They' are all in satisfactory condition. Damage to the , Wright car Was -estimated at $1,000.00 and 'the darliage to the Erb car was set at $1;500.00. Constable Bruce Crew, of the Goderich Detachment of the O.P.P. investigated. Over 41,000 barrage - Cars driven by Claude Free- born, of Palmerston, and Kath- erine Van Doornik, RR 4 Sea - forth, were involved .in a rear - end collision 1 niile east of Seaforth on Highway 8 at 8:30 Saturday Night. Mrs. Van Doornik was treat- ed and released from Seaforth Community Hospital. Mr. Free- born was admitted to hospital and is in fair condition. Damage to the two- vehicles was in excess of $1,000.00. ¢i Constable John Phillips of the Goderich Detachment of the O.P.P. investigated. Receives Burns"" Constable Keith Ruston of (Continued on Page 4) School Attendance Climbs Attendance at Seaforth Dis- trict High School is.. up thirty pupils from 420 last year to 450 this year and that figure may climb higher yet. This is the case in many area schools as pupils return following the summer vacation. One exception to this is the Seaferth Public School. Only 272 pupils enrolled Tuesday compared with 295 last year. This decrease in attendance was attributed to the opening of the .new Huron Centennial School, as many of the Harpur- hey students attended the pub - lie school previously. The St. James' Separate School recorded an attendance of 234,- with an additional 21 kindergarten students expected soon. Last year 190 enrolled. at St. James'. r, The Huron CentenniarSchool at Brucefield enrolled 650 stu- dents on the first day of school. This is an increase over last year of 59. .New Teachers Mrs. Nancy Webber will teach grade five at Seaforth Public School this year. She formerly taught at Galt. Mr. Webber will teach at the Secondary School in Clinton. Five new teachers are includ- ed on the staff of St. James', Separate Scheel. Sister Mary of Eucharist' joins the staff as principal. She formerly taught in London. •Miss Patricia Robin- son of Kippen will teach -grades six and seven and Mary Margar- et Flannigan will teach grades five and six. They are both starting their first year as tea- chers. Teaching grades four and five is Mrs. Brenda Faulkner of Parrsboro, N.S. She last taught in Zurich. Mrs. Judith McMichael of Winthrop will teach kindergarten. She prev- iously taught in Hamilton. Three former Centralia tea- ers, Mrs. Joyce Monteith, with ade eight, Miss Marion Trieb- ✓ with grade five and• Mrs. arilyn Taylor with grade three, e new additions to the teach - g. staff at Huroii; Centennial hoot, Brucefield; also incliud- are Mrs. Carolyn Hunter --Du- ✓ of Exeter with grade one, rley Desjardi�ie of Glencoe, th grade seven, Mrs. Dianne e f Brockville, h e with �' c i grade tee alid bias Helen lira ce%, 0' wilt 4eac.'�reneh, - ch near in �Sc ed va WI See wh Ideal weather. brought crowds of spectators to view the 1 Sea - forth Centennial celebrations held here on Monday. The largest parade in Seaforth since the! Old Boys' Reunion in 1955 was the highlight, of the Centennial celebratioi! on Lab- or Day. 'The parade, which took over an hour to pass, started a day of festivities long to be re- membered throughout the area. Hundreds of spectators lined Main Street and saw more than fifty floats, nine bands and a host of antique cars, decorated bicycles and horsedrawii car- riages. • The host bend was SDI1S Girls Trumpet Band under the lead ership of George Hildebrand. The old-timer Highlander Band carne out of retirement with many of it's old members re- turning to participate in the parade. Other bands attending Former Mayor were the Forest Excelsior Band, Thedford . Silver Band, urich Centennial Band; ' Stratford Drum and Trumpet.Band, Clin- ton Pipe 'Band, Atwood Com- munity Band acid . thg•,.. •IGA Marching Band. lel: - The..IGA Band performed at a bend concert at the fair- grounds immediately following the parade and during the bar- becue. Judging of the entries ' in the parade was held at. the ' fair grounds im the afternoon. The "Five Little Dutchmen" entry won first prize in the best dec- orated float competition. The award for the best Centennial float Was given to the• Cran- brook float. Sills' Hardware won first for the best horse-drawn Centennial entry. Other prize winning entries included the Kilbarchan Nursing Home for the best decorated motor vehi- Dr. E. A. McMaster Passes In London -'',First) Presbyterian Church, Seaforth, was filled Sunday af- ternoon as funeral services, for Were Dr. Ervin Arnold McMaster ere held. Mayor of Seaforth for seven years, Dr. McMaster died in Vic- toria Hospital, London, Thurs- day"afternoon. Death followed a bean attack three weeks ago. lie was 68,.on August 27. Services were conducted by Rev. D. 0. Fry of First Pres- byteriafi Church, assisted by Rev. D. Glenn Campbell of Lon- don, a former minister of the church, Rev. D. Guest of Pet- roiia, a former minister at •Eth- el and Rev. G. E. Morron of Grand Bend. Dr. McMaster began the prac- tise of medicine in . Ethel , in 1923, following his graduation from the University of Toronto. In .1934 he moved to Seaforth and during the years he prac- tised here prayed a prominent role in the town and communi- ty. Interested in athletics, he was a past president of the Seaforth Athletic Association. He was a past president of the Seaforth Lions Club and of the Huron Progressive Conservative As- sociation. For a number of years he served on the Seaforth District High School Board and later, was elected to" the Sea - forth Town Council. In 1951 he was elected Mayor, a position he continued to hold until he retired at the end of 1957. In 1961 he • moved to Grand Bend. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church. He was active as a member of Britan- nia lodge No. 170 and of the Blue Water Shrine Club. While in Seaforth he was ap- pointed a coroner for Huron Count3, a position he continued to hold in Grand Bend. Dr. McMaster • spent such time as he could afford from a busy practise in travel 'and through the years had visited most areas Of the world. The ,pictures and stories with which he returned' brought pleasure to audiences throughout a wide area. pr. McMaster was born at Ar. E. A. McMaster • Utopia, Ontario and attended school there and in Barrie. His first wife, .the former' Marjorie Wier, to whom he was married in 1924, died in 1938. In 1939 he was married to Pauline Kidd of Atwood who predeceased him in January of last year He is survived by a son, Paul of London, 'daughters, Mrs. Ken- neth (Joan) Pudney, London, Mrs, Donald (Jean) Stewart, Sea• (Continued on Page 4) cle; :thelia Coombs Wilnia . McLeanr,,.. Cathy and Susan'. Coombs far the best Centennial dress (family of ;three Pr. more); Mrs S... Shepherd and Mrs; Cook' ofThedforti jor,,, the' bgst ladies' Centennhl dress; A t- rey Baker, Angus, Ontario, for best . man's Centennial dress,' Seaforth Motors (Silver Creek Boys) for the best comedy en, try; Beverly Hillbillies, includ- ing Kenn and Thelma Coombs, Linda Forties, Wilma McLean„ Mrs. Wes Coombs and Aubrey and Betty Baker -for the best. novelty entry; and a London en- try won the award for the most valuable car as An antique. .The London Antique Car Club contributed 17 ears to the Centennial parade. The sports program, under the direction of the Seaforthi Junior Farmers; featured a greasy pig contest. Winners " were Jim Nixon,. Tom,; Pullen and Neil Gemmell.' Mrs. Charles Wood; 'Sr., 78, Seaforth, was the oldest person present. . and . the, youngest, was • Pamela Nichols, five weeks' old: A prize far the largest family present was won by the Grid- zak family of Egmondville,' with 10 members. The person com- ing the .farthest distance was Miss Susan Dick from Detroit, - Michigan. In the tug of war contest, the. - Commercial Hotel defeated the Queen's Hotel and •'the Junior Farmers outlasted the Militia. Carl. Dalton and Harvey Meta twain were the winners in the log: sawing contest. ' Many hungry spectators were on hand' for the barbecue spon- sored by, the Seaforth Agricul- tural ••Society and by 7 p.m., more than 1;000 had been fed. - Hundreds visited the anitque show held in the Community • .. (Continued on Page 4) MCKiIIop Tax Rate Rises McKjllop general tax rate will 'increase 2.6 mills over last.year to 176 •mills. The rate will be applied,to a total assessment of $2,7.$8;550,' which also is up, slightly over last year. The .business rate as ' estab- lished for the present year is 20.1 mills on. an assessment of $14,521.01. Last year's business rate was 16.8. Council. at a recent sheeting also approved a grant of $350 to the Seaforth Agricultural So- ciety. The East Huron Society at Brussels received $50. Joe Ker•.r Construction of Wingham was awarded a con- tract for crushing ,approximate-. ly 2,00.0 yard' of material ..from, Dodds' Hill at $1.15 a yard. Oth- er bids were Sandy Construc- tion, $1.40 and Robt. Jenpison, $1.37. Construction Still Uncierway' At SIMS' . Students returned• to school at SIDES on Tuesday amid the eenattuctio of . The addition was originally, scheduled for completion on the, , a neva emit. been re -scheduled. for the end +ef ly`+ ventber: At present tebtparary claStes litre being •titkext in p e lst of n 1V'oyet'n'lier, It has aitiee . ,.... the sOilf nett, cafeteria and 611 tike s e•,